Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by First County Bank CT

First County Bank CT trimmed its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,927 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Fortive were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Fortive in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the second quarter worth about $35,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.09.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $76.67 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.14. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and services professional and engineered products, software, and services in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions. The Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software, and services, including electrical test and measurement, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and connected worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries.